frida kahlo the paintings by hayden herrera

Along with her Mexican costumes, it also showed her absorption in traditional Mexican culture and folklore. It was a visual diary of her life and emotions, at times full of disturbing violent imagery that reflected her real-life pain, but also displaying sensual vibrancy and even black humour. Though she was embraced by the European Surrealists, Herrera argues that Frida’s art was far too specific, culturally and individually, to be classified as such.

Herrera’s book naturally gives a lot of attention to Frida’s art and I enjoyed the in-depth descriptions and analysis of her paintings, though it’s a tad disappointing that only half of the reproductions are in colour and the rest are black-and-white. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint always whatever passes through my head, without any other consideration. It was a testimony to Frida’s spirit in the face of suffering, her love of drama and spectacle, and an extra reminder of Frida’s central subject as an artist – herself. With her health badly deteriorated, Frida arrived at the Gallery of Contemporary Art in an ambulance, wearing her favourite traditional Tehuana costume, and received friends and visitors in her four-poster bed, installed earlier. In the preface, Herrera describes an event that perfectly encapsulated Frida’s qualities as a person and a painter: a year before her early death at the age of forty-seven, Frida made an appearance at her first major exhibition in her native Mexico. In retrospect, I almost wish I’d read the book and got more insight into Frida’s life before the visit, but ah well. I’ve been a fan of Frida’s striking, intensely personal paintings for a long time, and during my trip I was lucky enough to visit Casa Azul, the Frida Kahlo Museum in the neighbourhood of Coyoacán in Mexico City. I finally got around to reading this excellent biography of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, which I picked up, appropriately enough, during my trip to Mexico almost three years ago.

Frida kahlo the paintings by hayden herrera